Third stakeholder seminar as part of the Marine Environmental Monitoring Project

As part of ERA’s commitment in relation to the monitoring of the state of the marine environment and to better our quality of life, ERA has commissioned Malta Marine Monitoring Consortium, comprised of AIS Environment Ltd (Malta) and AZTI Tecnalia (Spain), to take on the project entitled Implementation and updating of marine monitoring programmes, assessment of environmental status and development of a marine database system.

The ultimate goals of this European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF 2014-2020) project are to devise a holistic approach towards marine monitoring and develop a database housing the data collected. Concrete data and information from the project will be used to develop better management practices to address pressures on marine environmental resources. In this regard, the project will assist the implementation of Malta’s obligations as an EU member state in relation to the marine environmental sector.

The database will be supplemented by relevant marine datasets and will facilitate access of monitoring data to the public. The Environment and Resources Authority is expected to absorb the full €1.6m in public eligible EMFF funds (75% EU 25% MT), which were allocated for the implementation of the marine monitoring programme.

The workshop held on 11 December was the third of the four seminars to be held as part of this project. The main objectives of this particular session were to:

• Introduce the project and its main objectives • Give an overview of the progress of the project so

far

• Describe the data collected throughout the proj

ect

• Give an overview of the database and the relevant policy applications

Representatives from M3C (Yasmin Schembri and Yolanda Sagarminaga) presented an introduction to the project, the data collected and technical details on the database. Entities including the Ministry for Gozo, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and Continental Shelf Directorate were represented at the workshop.

The seminar was closed off with a Q&A session during which some comments were put forward by the attendees, most notably queries regarding the public availability of the database.

The results of this project, including stakeholder feedback, will contribute to effective management and sustainable use of marine resources, for the benefit of the environment and of all marine sectors. Through this project, the environmental status of Malta’s coastal and marine waters will be assessed, which will enable Malta to continue working towards achieving Good Environmental Status in our marine waters.

For further information, please contact info@era.org.mt or call on +356 2292 3500 Monday to Friday, 8am to 3pm.